To: TigerPaw who wrote (284359 ) 8/6/2002 10:35:17 PM From: Raymond Duray Respond to of 769670 TEXAS AG COMMISSIONER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT SEC COMMISH jimhightower.com HARVEY PITT, THE SELF-PROPELLED BLOWFISH 8/5/02 What a refreshing joy Harvey Pitt is! Most political big shots try to hide their roiling egos and rampant ambitions behind a public mask of humility and selflessness. Not Harvey, though. As George W's hand-picked head of the SEC, Pitt believes that his Wall Street regulatory agency – and maybe the fate of the entire free world – is all about him! Pitt's got an ego bigger than several New England states. Prior to being named SEC chairman by Bush, he was a Wall Street lawyer who made millions-of-dollars a year representing many of the finagling corporations now under investigation by his agency. Completely clueless, he sees no conflict of interest in this, essentially asserting that he's too big of a person to have any conflicts. When first appointed, he loudly called for more deregulation of Wall Street brokers, stock analysts, and accountants. But – whoops – this laissez-faire approach has now been widely condemned for facilitating the massive, systemic scandals, presently sweeping corporate America, and there's been a bipartisan demand in Congress for Pitt to resign so a real, uncompromised watchdog could be appointed to restore some confidence in the integrity of the markets. So, what has our fearless SEC chairman proposed? He recently sent a request to congress that he be given a promotion, a pay raise, and more respect. Yes! This two-legged ego asked that his position be elevated to cabinet status, that he get about a $30,000-a-year pay hike, and that his agency be recognized for its importance to "our nation's financial and political markets." Now there's a guy totally intoxicated by his own fumes. Of course, what the SEC needs is not an ego boost for its chairman, but more power to cuff the corporate culprits and more money for rank-and-file investigators... but Pitt's not asking for this. This is Jim Hightower saying... Woodrow Wilson once noted that some people come to Washington and grow, while some just swell.